Apple's highly anticipated iPad event is now underway, as Tim Cook has taken the stage to get things started. That means we are just moments away from seeing the new iPad, iPad mini, and other goodies.
Like clockwork, Cook has kicked things off this morning with the usual barrage of company milestones, sales figures and other important stats. We've collected the most interesting stuff for you after the fold...
Less than eight hours after officially hitting Apple's App Store and Google's Play store, the BlackBerry Messenger app (free download) has seen more than five million active downloads on iOS and Android combined, BlackBerry announced in a tweet.
The messaging application is a staggered rollout which employs a reservation system to prevent the kind of a server strain seen after the Android build had leaked out prematurely. According to some repots, there's a workaround that could let you use the app without waiting...
Apple doesn't port its own iPhone and iPad apps to Android, but let's pretend for a moment it did. How would you feel if the company issued a major update to, say, its Apple Store shopping app for Android first, then days or weeks later gave the iOS edition some much-needed love?
Wouldn't you have felt left behind?
You now have a good picture of the outrage flaming in the Android community after Google gave the iPhone users the ability to send and receive Google Voice calls through the Hangouts iOS app (free download).
Remarkably, this game-changing feature has yet to hit the Android Hangouts edition.
It's actually so bad that Vic Gundotra, Google's Senior Vice President of Engineering, had to jump into the comments section of his announcement blog post and reassure Android fans that Google hasn't forgotten about them. There will be an update coming soon, he promised and pledged users to make love, not war...
As China becomes more important to Apple's bottom line, the iPhone maker will need to grease the wheels to ensure products are timely approved. In a step in that direction, Apple CEO Tim Cook has joined the advisory board of a prestigious engineering university - which also happens to include a number of prominent Chinese politicians.
Cook, who is also a Nike board member, has added his name to a panel assisting Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management (SEM), according to a report. As markets such as North America and Western Europe mature and growth slows, tech companies like Apple view China as a way to take up the slack...
It was two months ago that Apple opened iWork for iCloud to everyone and now it seems the company is getting ready to launch Pages, Keynote and Numbers web apps for public consumption. While visiting beta.icloud.com and logging in with your Apple ID doesn't give it away, try clicking on, say, the Pages icon and you'll be greeted with a message saying "we're updating Pages for iCloud" and a typical Apple tease, "In just a few short hours, you'll be able to create and edit documents, and enjoy great new features"...
In a rare move, Apple last week issued a silent update to OS X Mavericks Gold Master as the company is supposed to share pricing and availability information about the software at today's iPad event. And conveniently just a few hours ahead of the big reveal, a few high-profile websites have now flipped the switch on Safari push notifications.
For those uninitiated, this is a new feature of OS X Mavericks that allows web applications to send alerts which go straight to the Notification Center, even when Safari isn't running.
Only a handful of websites have activated the feature, though others are expected to follow suit as soon as Mavericks goes public, which some watchers think might happen during today's event...
The online Apple Stores in the United States and the world over have gone offline ahead of today's iPad event. Just a few minutes ago, Apple also updated its homepage with the event teaser graphics and provided a link to live stream the event through a web browser on iOS devices and Macs. Additionally, the Apple Events channel on the Apple TV has been updated with the event listing so couch potatoes from around the world can enjoy the presentation as it unfolds, from the comfort of their living room...
It looks like Apple will provide a live stream of today's iPad event after all as Apple TV owners report that the Apple Events channel has been updated on their $99 set-top box to reflect Apple's invitation graphics.
"Watch the special event held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, CA," the event listing reads.
Additionally, the company will be live-streaming the show to iOS devices and Macs through the new October 2013 event section on its Apple Events web page...
Apple may not be ready to introduce its TV set at today's iPad event, but the project does appear to be nearing completion. This according to comments made by Advanced Research's Masahiko Ishino, in a recent interview with Bloomberg.
Citing anonymous sources, the Tokyo-based analyst tells the news outlet that the Cupertino company is preparing to begin selling ultra-high definition televisions next year. The TV will come in 55" and 65" flavors, with a frameless design...
After forgoing its usual spring iPad keynote this year, it appears Apple is set to unveil new versions of its tablet tomorrow at a media event in San Francisco. We're expecting to see refreshed iPads, iPad minis, MacBooks, software and more.
Though Apple is reportedly streaming the event for its employees, and hosting a live feed for journalists, we have yet to hear anything about a public live stream. But never fear, iDB will be here all day providing coverage and commentary...
Today, the Wall Street Journal has come to the rescue establishing there'll be a Retina iPad mini tomorrow. Thank God for that - otherwise we'd be left in the dark. As for yours truly, I've had a great time watching some of the respondents in our non-scientific poll go from the previous 'no Retina = no buy' to the newest 'no Touch ID = no buy' complaint.
Ming Chi-Kuo's last-minute predictions have only added fuel to the fire by shooting down the gold colorway and Touch ID upgrades for both new iPads, the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2. Of course, not all of this particular analyst's magic tricks work out as he plans.
For starters, we've previously seen high-resolution photographs of purported iPad mini 2 and iPad 5 shells in Space Grey so there could easily be a gold colorway in the pipeline. Let's also not forget about Chinese sources that have recently leaked out an iPad mini front part with a Touch ID Home button - our strongest indications to date of Apple adopting fingerprint reading as standard across the board.
For doubting Thomas' out there, here's another last-minute leak claiming to represent a nearly-assembled iPad mini 2 in gold - and yes, proudly sporting the sophisticated Touch ID thingie...
Although we're not expecting to see it on stage at Apple's media event tomorrow, the iWatch is still a highly anticipated product in the company's pipeline. Most industry watchers don't have the device launching until late 2014.
There are essentially two theories on what Apple's wearable will look like: one being an actual watch-like device, and the other is more of a fitness band. Today's concept takes after the latter, and we have to say, it looks awesome...